fed up now !

[saker]

so i get one of these 2xbarlow things, its a clear night and i set every thing up with my celestrone 102 slt. do the sky align after reading the instruction manual absolute loads of time during last week,

get it to point at the M42 use the 25 lens i see nowt ! now i use the 9 lens again i see nowt ! no matter where the foucs is weather it be right in full wack or right out full wack, now i use the barlow with both lenes i see absolute not a thing just pitch black !

i try other things NGC's, planets etc....etc.... i cant see a thing with this scope !

ill try again the next clear night i get but if i still have no joy ill just put the scope back in the box and stick it in the loft, simply because i cant find this intresting just anoying, just getting really wound up now by the time it takes to get set up etc... and its all been for nothing.

waste of time and to top it off not only are up really cheese'd off your blumming cold at the end of it all !

[Badgerjc]

Dont give up just yet, i believe your scope is goto, are you sure you have it aligned correctly?

I have the 130 slt.. once aligned correctly it's great..

And if i were you i would get used to seeing things in your lowest eyepiece (the one with the biggest number) to start with to get you used to the sky, alot easier to find things, once you have found an object then you can start using higher mags and your barlow!!

hope this helps!!

regards badgerjc

[saker]

And if i were you i would get used to seeing things in your lowest eyepiece

thats the thing !............ seeing what ? ........... i cant see nothing at all no matter what eye peice am useing !

[Badgerjc]

just pm'd you..

[Helen]

Hi Saker,

We've all been there! Couldn't get my first scope to focus for quite a few times, but when I did it was well worth waiting for!!

So a couple of things just to try and diagnose the problem...

Don't be insulted by this - we've all done it - check you've taken the lens cap off... and have got the diagonal in..

Can you see any stars through the scope when you do the sky align? If not, you're not focussed.

On focussing, it's really easy to move the focuser too fast and go straight through focus without realising it. Turn the focus knobs slowly, when you can see a very faint disc you know you are getting closer, when the faint disc starts getting smaller and brighter you are getting closer still, keep going until the star is as small as it can be.

The moon is a great first target as it is very bright and easy to find and focus on.

Hope this helps

Helen

[jgs001]

Saker,

Something I found with my little scope. The focuser tube isn't quite long enough for the ep's I now have. I've on order an extension tube, but in the meantime, I've moved the diagonal out slightly (just under half a centimeter) from the focus tube. I keep a hand near when viewing just in case the diagonal should slip, but it's worked both times I've been able to get the scope out. I did post a question on here about this very thing, and apparently it's quite common. I found with the barlow I have, that under certain circumstances, without the extension I have no way to get focus.

[Badgerjc]

There are many things that it could be..

Some are quite simple, what is the lp like in your area?, are you letting your eyes get used to the dark, ie no white light for at least half a hour...

Also let your scope cool down before use( if kept indoors)

Remember DSO's are very faint and sometimes fuzzie!!

[Ant]

I couldn't agree more, focusing is a complete bitch the first time - especially if you are trying for the fainter object straight away!

Put in the lowest EP (the one with the highest number). Your's will be the 25mm.

Is your red dot finder lined up? If not line it up using a nearby lampost. Then pic something that doesn't move? Polaris would be good for this.

Get Polaris lined up in the finder, it WILL be in the main FOV if you have lined up the finder even roughly. Then start with the focus at one end and SLOWLY move the focuser in/out. The star will come to focus. Most scopes go from totally out of focus one way to toally out of focus the other in about 1/8th of a revolution...

Once you have focus, you'll know for next time where it is. Once you've found you'll not have the issue again.

Failing that, as Helen said, the moon is great - you can't not find the moon. Another few days and all your woes will be behind you (well maybe not all, but some) .

Ant

[proflight2000]

one other thing, have you got a finder scope on the telescope, if so, do a daylight alignment of the finderscope and make sure it is aligned as best you can with the scope, point it at an aerial, or a chimmney or something in the distance, can what you see in the finder scope be seen in the actual scope, if yes, then take it out in the dark all nicely lined up, forget the goto for now and just aim the finderscope at a bright star. Once on the star look through the scope, can you see the star in the scope ok, can you focus it ok.

If not, unscrew the glass bit from your barlow, put your eyepiece inside the barlow now put the barlow on the scope, find a star, can you see it in the scope, can you focus. If all goes well, use the goto and make sure you use the finderscope to bring the star into the center of the telescope before agreeing it is aligned. The reason I mention the barlow addition is to see if there is a focus problem where you may need an extension. But get the finderscope to do the work, if then you still cant see a thing then thats another issue.

sorry me and ant posted at the same time, but ill leave this up.

[saker]

yes i have can see stars when looked at ! i have played about with the focus and i have figured that out,

now this is what i put in my scope remote thing tonight hope you can follow this,

LON, 001,26,46,W

(then)

LAT 54,53,53,N

(then)

time,19,53,00 ( obiviously this was the time then)

(then)

daylight saveings

(then)

universal time

(then)

date 01/10/08 "and yes i do know that the moth was entered first as this is how it wanted it entered"

(then)

i pointed the scope at three diffrent stars waited about 30 secs got "match confirmed" and tryed to view but got nowt but a blank canvas !

[proflight2000]

so, you can see stars ok? when you align on the first star does it center? does it center the second star and so on? im not too up on the particular hand control but does it allow you fine adjustment. One other thing and i hope this does not sound stupid, is your mount north leg pointing north?

[saker]

so, you can see stars ok? when you align on the first star does it center? does it center the second star and so on? im not too up on the particular hand control but does it allow you fine adjustment. One other thing and i hope this does not sound stupid, is your mount north leg pointing north?

yes all the stars center, and yup my finder has been aligned in the daylight at a far object and there bang on when you slwo to them,

as for the moutn question im not really with you on that one mate ?

[proflight2000]

ok, now i dont know the particular mount, but on my heq5 I have a north leg, there are 3 legs on a mount, one has an N on it, this leg must be pointed north for the mount to be correct, I had to do the same with my meade etx mount as well, have you got anything on any of the mount legs with an N on it.

[saker]

ok, now i dont know the particular mount, but on my heq5 I have a north leg, there are 3 legs on a mount, one has an N on it, this leg must be pointed north for the mount to be correct, I had to do the same with my meade etx mount as well, have you got anything on any of the mount legs with an N on it.

2 secs ill have a look

[barkis]

Saker, are you in the north east somewhere? You are the same latitude as me in Carlisle.

Just to add what the others have said, and I may bbe repeating what you have already been asked to do.

I would not even try to use the Barlow at all, just put your lowest power eyepiece in the focuser, and leave it there until you have got something in the eyepiece and focused. You should have no trouble finding and focusing the Orion Nebula. I would find a bright star first, to focus on, then move to the neb.

Sirius is very bright, and you will find it to the left of Orion, and way down towards the horizon. You can't miss it, it twinkles a lot, and really bright. You may even see colours flashing as it twinkles away. That is because it is very bright, and low down.

If you feel you need help, and you do live near Newcastle, I wouldn't mind meeting you half way say in Hexham, just to give you a bit of guidance in the use of the scope Hexham is not such a long way from Carlisle.

Ron.

[proflight2000]

the issue now is that if all the stars are aligning ok there could be an issue with light pollution preventing you seeing things like clusters etc, id be very suprised if after doing all the alignment the scope then fails to go where its meant too. If you can see orion from where you are tell the goto to do a visit to Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976, now on a good night that can be seen with a pair of binoculars and even the naked eye ive heard. It should then point south of the belt, see if you can see anything then.

Light pollution is a real [removed word] and will if bad enough kill a lot of things dead.

[SteelRat]

Are you on 'Hylton Road'?

[saker]

ron i would be very great full if you could help me, i live in sunderl and about 30 mins from hexam,

i pointed the scope at the brightest star in the sky and only thing i seen was tint of green arounf the out side of it when focus'd in,

and yea im on hylton road why you ask ?

[saker]

the issue now is that if all the stars are aligning ok there could be an issue with light pollution preventing you seeing things like clusters etc, id be very suprised if after doing all the alignment the scope then fails to go where its meant too. If you can see orion from where you are tell the goto to do a visit to Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976, now on a good night that can be seen with a pair of binoculars and even the naked eye ive heard. It should then point south of the belt, see if you can see anything then.

Light pollution is a real *beep* and will if bad enough kill a lot of things dead.

M42 is what i really want to look at tryed every time i have had the scope out no joy.

[SteelRat]

and yea im on hylton road why you ask ?

Just makin sure you got the right co-ords entered into the handset. I didn't enter exact co-ords into my SLT mount the first time out - just selected the nearest city which is 12 miles away. Worked a treat at low power (x26).

[saker]

and yea im on hylton road why you ask ?

Just makin sure you got the right co-ords entered into the handset. I didn't enter exact co-ords into my SLT mount the first time out - just selected the nearest city which is 12 miles away. Worked a treat at low power (x26).

soem thing must be wrong with mine then ! ill phone the shop tomorrow.

[proflight2000]

Hylton road sunderland 54'54'23N 001' 24' 16 W

[barkis]

Saker, is this the scope you have.?

(click to enlarge)

Or this one?

(click to enlarge)

[robindurant]

Hi

In your set up you mentioned selecting "daylight setting" Is this correct for this time of the year ?

[Badgerjc]

Saker, is this the scope you have.?

(click to enlarge)

No thats the 130 slt, He has the 102 refractor..